Dirt Roads

My sister and I visited relatives in Florida not long ago. We left a forecast of snow and cold behind and enjoyed 82 degree days. Located in an affluent area near Orlando, I came face to face with the adage, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, or in this case: dirt roads.

Our hostess drove through an idyllic town with charming two story homes and wide porches, and dirt roads. When the cloud of dust whirled around the car I stated the obvious “The streets are dirt.” She replied “Oh, that’s the way the residents want it. The town thinks it increases privacy.”

Spending the majority of my life on red dirt roads all I could think who wanted dirt roads? Nobody near my rural home petitioned to leave my country roads unpaved. Visions of roads resembling powder sugar during droughts coating the car, tracking in houses, smudging the windows played in my head. I envisioned red clay bogging vehicles to the rims, then leaving rutted tracks to jar your body. I remember dancing on the freshly paved road when the County completed the job. Now I heard people actually wanted it that way. I felt confused.

I found it perplexing folks living on the fringe of a metropolitan area yearning for blowing dirt and ruts. I found it strange some notions it added charm of their property. Did they want the pace of a rural lifestyle? Did they want to live a country song of dirt roads going home? Did they feel this separated them from problems the encountered in their metropolitan sprawl? In my rural location, twenty miles from a pharmacy or grocery store, we thrilled to drive on pavement. Happy is what a person perceives it to be; my brand of happiness includes my black-topped country lanes twenty miles from civilization. I think the folks living in that town are happy because they have their dirt roads.

Share your thoughts.

NEBRASKA DAVE

3/18/2013 3:14:48 PM

Rhonda, there are still spots in the middle of the 300,000 plus population city where I live. The folks there still want their dirt roads not because they like but because if roads were indeed paved the residents would have to pay for it. Every time the city tries to make a push to improve the roads in these areas the residents rise up and kill the city desire because of thousands of dollars that would be billed to each property owner living in the area. Most likely those properties will never have paved roads unless the city some how over rides with wishes of the property owners which seems to be the trend these days.
I'm with you. After growing up on the farm and dealing with spring thaws with suck you shoes off mud, I really like the paved roads of the urban city where I live.
Have a great paved road day.

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